1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of speech recognition and, more particularly, to speech-based user interfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Speech interfaces are frequently used in conjunction with database-driven systems to provide users with a speech-based method of searching for information. One common example of such a system is a flight information system where a user can verbally specify an argument, such as an airline or city, for which the speech-enabled system can search. Speech interfaces can work effectively in cases where a speech recognition engine correctly recognizes the voice commands. If the engine misrecognizes the voice commands, however, the database search will return the information based on misrecognized user requests and therefore be incorrect, unless the user is provided with an opportunity to correct the request.
Correction within a speech interface, however, can be problematic due to the effects caused by the confirmation steps. Specifically, each voice command may result in a series of options that are played to the user. If too many options are presented, the confirmation process may become tedious as each option is presented. However, if no options are present, and hence no confirmation is permitted, a misrecognition may go uncorrected.
As a result, it is often beneficial to have a user confirm a selection to ensure that a selection has not been misrecognized by the speech interface. However, if each and every voice command is required to be confirmed, the number of confirmation steps can result in long and tedious dialog flows between the user and the speech interface. At the same time, if confirmation steps are not used or are underutilized, then the user may be lead down the wrong path or may be given incorrect information due to the misrecognition of the voice command by the speech interface.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to reduce the number of confirmation steps, thereby reducing the length of time a user would interact with the speech interface. It would also be beneficial to maintain a high degree of accuracy, thereby reducing the consequences of misrecognition and/or correcting any misrecognitions sooner.